Chandrababu Naidu assures all help to Telugu students stranded in Ukraine

Vijayawada: TDP national president and former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday advised the Telugu students stranded in Ukraine not to take any hasty decisions and wait till they get a safe passage.

Naidu held a zoom conference with over 100 stranded students and enquired about their present situation to find a way out of the war-torn country. The students narrated their problems due to uncertainty about evacuation, lack of accommodation, shortage of food, rising costs of travel and money exchange problems.

The TDP chief told the students that it would take two to three days for clarity to emerge on the overall evacuation logistics. There was nothing to panic about. The students should be bold and wait till help would reach them. They should pass on their details to the TDP NRI cell. It would open a website also soon to remain accessible to provide required help.

Naidu assured the students that he would keep a constant watch and take up the issue with the Government of India and Embassy. Though the TDP was not in the government in AP, it would do everything possible from its side to rescue everyone. The students should constantly evaluate their risk factors. They should take help only from reliable groups and agencies.

Naidu said the Telugu students should not take sides in this conflict and they should maintain neutrality at any cost. There might be pressure to join the army. The students should understand that their life safety was very important. They should move out of their bunkers, metro stations and present locations only when they would have reliable support to shift them to the borders.

The TDP chief told the students to communicate their difficulties and requirements to the TDP NRI cell number. Money would not be a problem. The banks were not working there. The students should come out with plans on how they could get physical or monetary support from the Indian agencies. The TDP would negotiate with the concerned agencies to rush help.

Naidu assured the students that everybody back home in AP would be with them. Everybody was ready to do their bit for their safe return to homeland. Students said that those stranded in the eastern parts of Ukraine were facing the most difficulty in evacuation. They were not finding vehicles to travel 1,200 to 1,500 km to reach the borders and return via Romania, Hungary or other countries.

One student said the local alerts were being made in Russian and they were having communication problems. Prioritisation of evacuation was also important. Immediate help should be rushed to the high risk zones.